Lil Peep - Come Over When You’re Sober Pt 2

The Guardian 80

(Columbia)

When Lil Peep died of an accidental drug overdose last November, he was already a cult hero in certain corners of the internet. Beloved by many for his dingy synthesis of emo and contemporary rap, the 21-year-old New Yorker – born Gustav Åhr – was at the vanguard of a new movement intent on trampling down divisions between hip-hop and rock. This wasn’t the first time the genres had melded – Peep’s work harked back to 90s nu-metal bands such as Korn and Linkin Park – but by replacing mechanical fury with opiated nihilism, fluttering hi-hats and a post-ironic nostalgia for pop-rock past, he produced something fiercely contemporary. With his wacky dress sense and pretty-boy face, Peep was a star machine-tooled for the social media age.

Come Over When You’re Sober Pt 2, Peep’s posthumous second album, is compiled from material discovered on his laptop after he died. It doesn’t appear to be a cynical record label cash-in, having been steered by Peep’s mother and his long-time producer Smokeasac, but that’s not to say it doesn’t feel extremely ghoulish: Peep’s songs are peppered with references to his death, delivered in a slurred whine halfway between Kurt Cobain and Blink-182’s Tom DeLonge. The myopic focus on such a theme might have seemed eerily prophetic if the musician hadn’t flaunted his prescription drug abuse online – instead, it serves to make his passing seem a dismal inevitability.

Fri Nov 09 09:30:10 GMT 2018

The Guardian 80

(First Access/Columbia)

“Is anybody out there? Can anybody hear me?” would be a striking refrain from any artist, but coming on the posthumous album from rapper Lil Peep it feels especially harrowing. The Long Island-raised Gustav Åhr died one year ago of an accidental overdose, aged 21. Much of this follow-up to his August 2017 debut had been recorded with his producer, Smokeasac, prior to Peep’s death; his mother then sifted through the material to curate a work that would honour her son’s memory.

Come Over When You’re Sober Pt 2 does exactly that. While it’s more poignant than ever to hear him sing, on the same track, about trying suicide and life being beautiful, or matter-of-factly relating his drug abuses, there is no attempt to sugar-coat his legacy. Unfiltered, melodic, cinematic and raw, this album has moments that feel a little cheesy, but that’s in keeping with how unconcerned he was with “coolness”. Ending on uplifting spikes of synth and guitar on Fingers, Peep says “I’m not gonna last long” – but this record belies that, and may provide solace for his many devastated fans.

Sun Nov 11 08:00:04 GMT 2018